July 14, 2026
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National Taxpayers Union, the nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, urges all members to vote “YES” on H.R. 9237, the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act.
A few weeks ago, NTU released a blog post praising this bill for possibly pulling off a rare feat: devising a legislative package that expands veterans’ benefits expansion while offsetting the cost of the package. However, we held off on supporting H.R 9237 until the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a score that showed actual savings for taxpayers in the 10-year budget window. Based on information we have recently received, the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act is a unique veterans benefit expansion bill that also saves taxpayers money. As a result, we now support this bill.
Over the past few months, we have criticized several expensive legislative proposals that would expand benefits for our nation’s veterans without much-needed offsets, including the Major Richard Star Act, the Love Lives On Act, and the Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act. Navigating veterans benefit issues can be difficult for members of Congress who believe in responsible federal spending. Many of these principled members are veterans themselves, or have close family members and friends who have sacrificed for their neighbors by serving in harm’s way to protect our way of life. And, for generations of past veterans, our nation did not adequately take care of their needs. However, veterans’ benefits have increased greatly in recent years. On a per veteran basis, spending has dramatically grown, from around $3,000 per year in 2000 to $25,000 today. This is expected to further spike in the next 10 years, to over $45,000 per veteran by 2036. This huge growth in spending, in our current fiscal circumstances, is simply unsustainable for taxpayers to support over time. As a result, we have consistently opposed any expansions in benefits that are not paid for.
This is why taxpayers should applaud the veterans committees in both houses of Congress for compiling a “four corners” veterans package that not only pays for itself, but may actually reduce costs for taxpayers over time. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act combines over 60 legislative proposals, including a number of veterans’ benefit expansions and VA operational improvements. The bill drafters deserve praise for responsibly reducing the cost of the most expensive provision of the bill—the Major Richard Star Act—by resetting its scope back to its intended purpose of serving combat-disabled veterans who served the country in uniform for a full career. However, the most impressive part of this package is its inclusion of an offset in Section 108 of the legislation, which would codify reductions in future disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea. According to preliminary CBO estimates, this provision would reduce VA costs by an estimated $19 billion over the next ten years, making this bill an overall money-saver for taxpayers by returning around $1.3 billion to the Treasury by the end of the 10-year budget window. Originally proposed by the VA in 2022 during the Biden Administration, this change was likely to be implemented in the rulemaking process before the end of this Administration. Effectively, this legislative provision allows the veterans committees in Congress to make use of the savings here to expand benefits in other areas, as well as reduce overall costs for taxpayers.
Roll call votes will be included in NTU’s annual Rating of Congress, and a “YES” vote on H.R. 9237 will be considered the pro-taxpayer positions.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Senior Policy Manager David Timmons at dtimmons@ntu.org
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